THE ALCYONARIA OF THE MALDIVES. 483 



which the species varies in form in one group of islands. The species T. aurantiaca ought 

 to disappear from the literature as Lamaroux' description of it is far too incomplete to be 

 any guide to its determination. 



Family Nephthyidae Verrill. 



This family has recently been rearranged by Klikenthal (15), who recognises now only 

 four genera; Aminothea, Paraspongodes, Nephthya, and Siiongodes. Unfortunately we are still 

 in almost complete ignorance of the anatomy of any of the species, and there are many 

 reasons for regarding Kiikenthal's new system as not entirely satisfactory. In the revised genera 

 Nephthya and Spongodes the anthocodiae are supported on the outer side by one or more than 

 one specially long spicule, the supporting bundle (Stiitzbiindel). These are not present in the 

 other two genera. The genera Ammothea and Nephthya have the anthocodiae arranged in 

 "catkins," in the other two genera the anthocodiae are in bundles or isolated. 



As regards the " Stiitzbiindel " there may be observed in many colonies considerable varia- 

 tions in different regions, some anthocodiae possessing a very well-marked Stiitzbiindel, and 

 others having no sign of one. On the other hand the very pronounced " catkin " arrangement 

 which is seen in many specimens shades off into bundles with closely-set anthocodiae in a 

 manner which often makes the determination of the genus a difficult one. For example, I had 

 some difficulty in determining whether the arrangement of the anthocodiae in the specimen 

 which I have referred to Nephthya inermis is or is not a "catkin" within the meaning of the 

 definition. For the present, however, it is best to work upon Kukenthal's system, which possesses 

 the great advantage of reducing verj* materially the number of ill-defined genera which appear 

 in our literature. 



Of the genus Spongodes about 70 species have been described from the Red Sea, East 

 Coast of Africa, Malay Archipelago, China, Japan, Australia, New Guinea, New Britain (see 

 15, 17, 19). It is a remarkable fact that only one species, Spongodes {Morchellana) spinulosa, 

 has been described from the Indian Ocean (9), and only one species of Nephthya (N. hurmaensis 

 Ridley). The genus is very abundant in the Maldives, as the following notes show. I have a 

 specimen from the Persian Gulf. I have several specimens from Singapore. It occurs on the 

 coast of Ceylon, and probably is abundant all over the Indian Ocean. 



Time has not permitted me to make a detailed examination of all the specimens, and I 

 feel that the task of attempting to identify them with any of the seventy defined species or 

 to describe any of them as new to science would yield results out of all proportion to the 

 labour involved. The presence of so many specimens of different forms of g^rowth, of colour, 

 of spiculation living under very similar conditions in one group of islands suggests very forcibly 

 that all these specimens represent but different facies of one variable species. Anatomical in- 

 vestigation of a thoroughly searching character can alone determine this point, and until it is 

 made the task of species-making should in my opinion be suspended. A very large number 

 of the new species that have been described are founded upon one small specimen. 



We have no information to guide us as to the changes that take place during the growth 

 of a colony from a height of 20 mm. to a height of 200 mm., nor the influence that variations 

 in depth, in the strength of tides, or the nature of the sea-bottom, the associated crab, mollusks, 

 and other creatures have upon the colour, form, and size of the colonies. 



62—2 



